A R-7 roll-out (not the first one).

     On that day, a tradition was established: the State Commission chairman, the chief designers, the firing range chief of control, and anybody who wanted to, would come to the solemn ceremony to see the latest missile hauled out of the MIK. (Siddiqi p. 157, Chertok II p. 344)

     In its Sunday, Ocober 13, 1957 edition, the New York Times Magazine published a wonderful report on a “probable timetable of man’s conquest or space.”  Author I. M. Levitt wrote:

The present first phase will continue with the launching of progressively more complex and long-lived satellites.       The next phase, which will ultimately take man in the Moon and the planets, will begin within a few years, let us say by 1960, with the mastery of the problem of putting a television transmitter in a satellite.       The TV picture which we will thus get from the height will be a vast panorama of the Earth. Its most important application will probably be in weather forecasting. Meteorologists will have data gathered by looking in toward the Earth from outside its atmosphere, instead of the other way around, and their whole science will be revolutionized.       By 1964, a rocket plane will go into the sky carrying a full complement of small animals. In this fashion, we shall gain an insight into the probable behavior of man when he gets into space.      But by 1968, there should be a rocket ship going aloft with a man aboard (it may be a woman, for a woman packs the same amount of

skill and brains into a smaller package).      Scientists should know then whether further space travel is feasible — while today it appears that there should be no question of this.       Assuming that the human being come through this adventure with no mishaps, than the establishment of a huge, spinning, doughnut- shaped space station can begin by 1978. Such a space station will become an useful stepping stone to other bodies in the solar system.      However, following completion of the space station, about 1980, there will come a hiatus in which our scientific cupboard will be replenished: new developments integrated into our sciences.       Perhaps twenty years will elapse from the time man establishes the space station until he is ready to leave for the Moon and the planets. This brings us to the year 2000. By that time, it is certain that man will have tapped tremendous stores of energy. It may take the form of energy from nucleus of atom or it may take the form  of energy from the sun.

Perhaps fifty years after man has reached the Moon [2050], we on the Earth may once more look into the sky at our satellite and be astonished at the changes taking place. There may be entire cities built under plastic domes which will glitter in the sunlight. The full Moon will be a remarkable sight, with myriad reflections from the top of plastic domes and from the artificial lakes which may then abound there.      Thus, the Moon will become the center of another civilization similar to that on Earth. The Moon will provide every necessity for the further adventures of man.      Once this base and culture have been established, man will be free to leave the Moon to explore the planets. In this venture, we are severely restricted as to where we can go.       As a point of fact, there are few planets which can be explored. The most promising of all, of course, is Mars. Mars appears to have atmosphere and some type of vegetation. This writer believes there must be some kind of animal life on Mars…

President Eisehnower and the 
Jupiter missile nose cone.

     In his speech on “Science in National Security,” General Eisenhower observed that “one difficult obstacle” in producing a useful long-range ballistic missile was “that of bringing a missile back from outer space without its burning up like a meteor because of friction with the Earth’s atmosphere. Our scientists and engineers have solved that problem,” he said. Displaying the nose cone of the missile, he added: “It has been hundred of miles to outer space and back.  Here it is, completely intact.” The successful firing of the missile and recovery of the cone had been previously reported in the press but the President’s statement was the first official confirmation, and the public display of the nose cone was the first concrete evidence of success displayed by any nation.
     President’s speech also contained a long catalogue of new weapons and scientific developments, some of which had been secret. His obvious intent was to reassure the United States and the free world that, while the Soviet Union was first with satellites in space, the United States also had been making impressive technological strides. 
     He conceded that the successful launch of two satellites had demonstrated the “advanced techniques” of the Soviet Union, particularly in powerful rocket engines but, however, “as of today, the over-all military strength of the free world is distinctly greater than that of the Communist countries.” 
     The President added that U.S. nuclear stocks have become so plentiful that “we are able to disperse it to positions assuring its instant availability against attacks,” an indication that nuclear warheads are now stored at overseas bases. “Out scientists assure me that we are well ahead of the Soviet in the nuclear field, both in quantity and in quality.”
     However, the President renewed appeal to the Soviet Union to join in United Nations disarmament efforts.  He said that what the world needed more than “a giant leap into outer space” was “a giant step toward peace.” (NYT 8 Nov 57)